Club Volleyball - rate your club pros/cons
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Anonymous
I'm not the U14 mom OP, but thank you so much for putting this together! |
Anonymous
Would a "still fairly new-to-volleyball" 14 yr old get slammed trying out for U15? Or it's really worth a shot? |
Anonymous
| I would say in the bottom Tier, it's worth a try. At least to get the experience of playing in tournaments. The good thing is now you have all this experience under your belt and will be ready for next year. I would still reach out to clubs and see what happens. |
Anonymous
| U14 Mom from what little I know about VAVA (and what's said above), I'd start with them about U14 spots if the logistics and price could work for you. They may be a nice combo of good coaches, but too new a club to get people running to be in it. So maybe getting in on the ground floor will give you a win-win? It's possible! |
Anonymous
I would also try X-Factor, which is run by the head coach at NOVA CC and is geared towards development and is not a blood sport club. |
Anonymous
If the club is fairly new or young and the coaches are open to the idea + primarily more focused on development and not being competitive (aka focused on winning in tournaments), then the idea of a 14 y/o trying for U15 isn't out of the realm of possibility. At this point, give the club a call/email and ask. |
Anonymous
Clarification in terms of definition: A 14 y/o being someone who would typically qualify and focus on U14. |
Anonymous
| Another U14 parent here new to club volleyball, and my kid tried out for 5 teams and was shut out entirely even from a couple of the lower tier teams. What a discouraging situation for an enthusiastic teen who tried really hard and committed to 12+ hours of volleyball tryouts over past weekend. What options do these kids have? How do kids develop and improve if the coaches expect them to show up fully packaged? She is a strong player but does need to work on certain skills. But how do they get better without the coaching? She is not happy about playing Rec again bc she isn’t learning much and is already a top player there. She was really hoping to step up to the next level where the leagues play regulation rules and actually serve etc. and they can play tournaments. |
Anonymous
I'm really sorry to hear about that and do feel for her. At the top of my head, one thing I would suggest at this point in time is to consider clinics that really focus on specific skills such as receiving and passing. Some clubs/organizations do offer those (but it may not be always throughout the year, only at certain times) and some could provide info on private training. I checked really quickly for one in Maryland and saw that MD Juniors has info on private lessons. This is the URL: https://www.mdjrs.org/clinics Of course, which organization you go to depends on where you and your daughter are based. |
Anonymous
This is the hardest part of club volleyball -- everyone loves to talk about the top tier teams, college scholarships, compare club strength, etc. but for every player that is trying to go that route, there are dozens that just want to play volleyball at a level above a rec league. Trying out for 5 different teams and not making one is really hard, but kudos to your kid for putting themselves out there and trying so hard. First, I would suggest finding a club in your area that runs clinic sessions over an extended period of time during the club season. Make sure the number of players in the clinics is low, so that they spend their time playing volleyball not just watching it. Make sure the coaches are the same for each week -- you want a coaching staff that can progress your player, and that means repeated exposure to them. Avoid single skill clinics until you have good all around skills. A good clinic program will combine a lot of fundamentals work with enough gameplay to keep the clinic interesting to the players. To help in getting on a team next year, before selecting the club for your clinics, ask the club how many players on their top teams started in their skills program and/or the youngest club team. If they have a development team, check to see how many of the clinic players make it on to to the development team. Second, think about avoiding fall rec leagues and instead focus on fall training programs/academy. While the players in those leagues often love them (and the clubs love to post on social media with the winners and their medals), the reality is that most clubs take just a few rec league players on to their club teams. Also, most rec league coaching is not good. When looking for a good fall program, ask how many of the teams/groups are coached by a club coach and how many club players came out of their fall program and/or went on to play in other clubs that year. Finally, realize that the tiers talked about here are heavily biased towards the how the top teams perform. Many parents get hooked on the though that the best clubs must also have the best training/clinic programs. That's not true -- the Tier 1 and most of the tier 2 clubs use other clubs for their training. They have little interest in developing a good player from the very first time they touch a ball -- its hard work and ties up their good coaches (of which there are few). |
Anonymous
There appear to be some significant shifts in U13 & U14 this year -- while some clubs were able to hold on to just about all of their good players, some of the big names were still scrambling right up until the deadline last night. Metro was still advertising makeup tryouts and slots available on their 14 travel on Saturday night. They either had their team identified already (and the advertising was just a way to get more money for tryouts) or they really did need the makeup tryout to finalize their roster. VA Elite and VA Juniors were trying to get players to switch clubs, but they either didn't or went to a different high level club. On the Maryland side--where the big clubs tend to run 2-3 teams at each age group--it seemed like most of them had little problem locking in their top teams, and many had their second and third teams done well before the end of the tryout period. |
Anonymous
| Can anyone speak to “MetroFX”? Still having U14 openings. We are not familiar. |
Anonymous
U14 mom here. What clubs would you recommend a new to volleyball U14 kid try out for if they want a second bite at the apple in U15? Xfactor and ECP and NVVA were all Nos for U14. Does she try those again? Or go for even lesser ranked teams? What would be considered lesser ranked? No panic? Monument? Metro regional teams? Has to be VA only due to logistics so DC and MD not an option. My understanding is that several Metro regional teams aren’t full yet. She isn’t a powerhouse player (yet) but wants to level up over Rec so she can improve and play up. |
Anonymous
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For U14 mom- what primary position does she play?
Realistically, this information is important in the effort to match up to a club team at U14. Also you could get so Kenmore Specific suggestions from this forum re additional training opportunities |
Anonymous
U14 mom here. Her preference is for front line/hitter. She’s tall. But she can also set and receive serves. Serving is her Achilles heel. She has a killer underhand serve from playing Rec. But hasn’t yet developed a consistent overhand serve. That’s the issue I think. |